Unrequited (Trip x OC)

Seven

It had been months since the incident on Shuttlepod One with Trip. I was helping out with Doctor Phlox in sick bay the day that it happened. Trip had come up with a way to compress the antimatter stream and make the engine run more smoothly. I didn't exactly understand what the first part meant, but I was excited for the advancement.

"Emily, if you could come over here and give Hoshi something for her headache, I'll deal with Ms. Cutler's burn," Phlox called to me.

"Yes, sir," I dropped my book and walked over. Hoshi was sitting on the bed next to where Phlox was working.

I glanced over at his patient with a frigid glare. "Crewman Cutler," I said coldly.

She looked confused at my demeanor, but I turned away quickly.

I addressed Hoshi, "This should help." I picked up a hypospray and pressed it to her neck.

"Thanks," she sighed in relief.

"Stressed out lately?" I inquired.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" she cocked her head.

I shrugged. "Your expression."

"Am I really that see-through?" she laughed.

"Nope. I'm just a genius," I joked.

She smiled at me, hopping down from her bed. She looked like she was about to say something more when the doors to sick bay burst open.

We looked over. They were carrying a body in on a stretcher with a large gash on the side of their face.

I tried to get a closer look at who was on the stretcher. I stood on my tiptoes and almost wished I hadn't.

The entire left side of Trip's face was burned up and bleeding.

"What happened?" I rushed over, walking with them as they carried him to a bed. I stared down at the nasty wound on Trip's temple.

They sat the stretcher on a bed. "We were running engine tests and there was a primary injector flare. The only option was a manual shutdown. Commander Tucker climbed up there and shut it down just in time. If he hadn't, we would've lost the whole engine."

"So how did he get hurt?" I looked down at him. If it weren't for the huge gash in his head he would've looked like he was sleeping. He seemed so peaceful.

"There was a nearby explosion. It blew up near his head and knocked him off the engine."

"Emily, go prepare the biobed."

I tore myself away from Trip's body to follow Doctor Phlox's order. I would help in any way I could.

---

"Commander Tucker is in a coma induced by extensive neural damage," Phlox informed my father.

He stood there for a second before speaking. "Can it be fixed?"

"I can think of only one way," Phlox shook his head.

"...And that is?"

"There is something called a Lyssarian Desert Larvae. It can clone Commander Tucker, and we can harvest the neural tissue we need from it."

I was sitting next to Trip's body. I looked up at this. "What? You're going to create a clone of him just to harvest tissue? Like some sort of discardable Human being?"

"That's enough, Emily." My father scolded. I fell silent.

"That decision is up to the Captain. The clone will progress and develop very quickly. It will only have a lifespan of fifteen days," Phlox continued.